My 14-year-old son and I were looking for a project to keep us out of trouble for part of this summer. Actually, we signed up for a month at TechShop, a very cool public collection of amazing tools, and then worked backward. We just needed a tangible excuse to use the plasma cutter for metal, the wood router, and maybe even the welder.
Originally we were going to build an arched entrance straddling the sidewalk leading from the sidewalk to our door. The view toward our front door is actually very nice (see below) so we searched around for something else.
Earlier this year we had laid down two paths through the front yard (also eliminating any grass that needed mowing!), but they visually lead from lush plantings to a flat grass and weed patch at the rental property next door. Our goal is to create more of a feeling of enclosure to the space.
Taki, our other neighbor and an extraordinary gardener, suggested building some prototype outlines of the extended trellis with scrap lumber to better imagine how it might look. This is how we have started.
Later this week Avi and I go for training at TechShop on the plasma cutter!
In the meantime, I've been walking through the neighborhood looking for yards with interesting transitions: from front to back yard, sideways to a neighbor, or even between sections of the front area.
